Aviation experts say bird-plane collisions happen daily. Nearly 200 people have been killed or injured since 1990 in accidents involving aircraft and wildlife. It is estimated that bird strikes cost military and commercial aviation over $2 billion each year due to damage and other costs. Most birds fly below 5,000 ft. However, bird strikes have occurred at 17,000 ft. and a few sightings have been made above 20,000 ft. In general, birds fly higher at night and during the spring and fall migration periods. They also fly higher in the presence of complete cloud cover.
Airports take a variety of measures to reduce bird populations near major airports. In a few cases, avian radars are used to detect flying birds near aircraft approach and departure paths. However, outside of these few major airports, no bird detection devices are currently available other than the pilot's see-and-avoid procedures.
It may be possible to equip an aircraft with a specialized high resolution scanning radar to detect and display the presence of birds. However, such a radar would be expensive and it would be difficult to find antenna installation space even on the largest aircraft.
Accordingly, there is a need for small low cost aircraft based detection equipment that would alert the pilot to the possibility of an imminent collision with a bird or other airborne hazard.